The following provides brief descriptions of the articles organised according to subject matter.  There are also links to each article or web-page.
 

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The 2009 Edition of the Web-Journal presents several important articles on Suzuki pedagogy. 

The editor is especially pleased to have had permission to re-produce Allen Lieb's Keynote address to the Suzuki Association of the Americas Conference in May 2008 which was later published in the American Suzuki Journal, Volume 37#1 with the title The View from my Corner of the Suzuki Triangle
This outstanding and wide-ranging article, which covers many aspects of Allen's work  will be of great interest to Suzuki teachers, teacher trainers, parents and all those involved in Suzuki organisations.

Our special feature celebrating Dr Suzuki’s Life and Work, which was started in 2008  has grown with the addition of two new articles by ESA Suzuki Teacher Trainers recalling their time studying with Dr Suzuki in Matsumoto.  We hope that new articles will be added over the next year.

In Lasting Impressions: My Studies with Shinichi Suzuki at the Talent Education Institute, Matsumoto Kerstin Wartberg describes her two years  in Matsumoto 1980-81 as some of the happiest and most intense of her life. The article presents a vivid portrait of Dr Suzuki as a person and teacher, and of the life at the school.  A clear picture of Suzuki’s  philosophy and pedagogy and the impact it had on his many students from all over the world  emerges as well.

Stephen Power's interesting article on  Suzuki, Music and Matsumoto covers visits undertaken later in the same decade. Stephen Power studied at Dr Suzuki’s School for three study visits of three months each in 1984, 1987 and 1990.  His article describes a typical day at the school, the Monday concert and the calligraphy class and so on.  His analysis of the similarities between the approach to calligraphy and the approach to the study of music and playing is most illuminating.

Further articles on Pedagogy are concerned with the teaching of specific instruments

New Old Ideas 3 continues Martin Rüttimann’s series of articles (see also Web-Journals 2008 and 2007) on ideas for teachers;  in this instalment he shows how the Suzuki books prepare violin students for the technical challenges of much more advanced and virtuoso repertoire.

Martin Rüttimann's  positive review of  Mark Björk's, Expanding Horizons describes a book which also deals with the more advanced pupil and which gives useful tips on how to teach teenaged students.

Suzuki Double Bass for the first time in Europe is a new article by Peter Skriver, who is a Suzuki Double Bass Teacher and Trainee and also the co-organiser of the new ESA Double Bass course in Denmark outlines the Bass  method and gives a lively and informative description of this new course.

In her article, Welcome Mandolin Amelia Saracco describes the Suzuki Mandolin method, and celebrates the recent recognition by the ISA Board of Mandolin as a Suzuki instrument.

Päivi Kukkamäki gives an account of the latest developments in the Suzuki Voice world in her ESA Voice Report 2008.

Although not primarily aimed at Suzuki teachers, the The Motivation Symposium: Rewarding Pupils by Jenny Macmillan and three other piano teachers, covers a subject which is of interest to many Suzuki teachers (and parents):  how far should one go in rewarding children and when does a reward become a bribe, and are bribes ever justified? This article in the form of an interview is reproduced from Piano Professional, Spring 2008 by kind permission of the editor and the four contributors. 

A number of articles have been inspired by events in our Suzuki communities.

Chantal Darietto-Latil's article on Master Classes in Scandinavia gives an interesting and lively account from a visiting Teacher Trainer’s point of view of two weeks at workshops in Sweden and Finland, showing  how much enjoyment can be gained from Suzuki workshops, not just by the children and the parents but also by the faculty members.

Koen Rens in his report on Teaching and Teacher Training in Lithuania shows how important a well-run and successful workshop can be in developing a new Suzuki community.

The two reports from Anne Naylor, chair of the South African Suzuki Association illustrates the same point. The SASA Newsletter gives a lively account of recent events in South Africa and the importance of the visits from ESA Teacher Trainers Christophe Bossuat, Karen Kimmett and Koen Rens who in addition to conducting teacher training and exams, also find time to inspire children and parents at Workshops. They also help the South African Suzuki teachers who work in deprived communities, orphanages and townships by visiting these projects and teaching the children.

Betty Power's brief report about the   Suzuki Piano Anniversary Concert in Cambridge also includes an important reminder of the pledge Suzuki teachers used to give to Dr Suzuki when they visited Matsumoto, and which is also a summary of the mission of today's Suzuki teachers, even those who have never been to Matsumoto.

The 2008 Xchange course for European teachers of violin and viola at the Remscheid Academy has yielded two enthusiastic reports. One, entitled European Xchange Weekend in Germany is the detailed  account of the event by a Danish Suzuki Teacher, Roberto Sarno - a recent Violin graduate. The other is from  Nigerian violinist, Chinwendu Uzodike,  who had been invited by a friend and was so overwhelmed by her first experience of the Suzuki Method that she now wants to introduce it in her home country. Her article is accordingly called, A Great Inspiration for Nigeria.

Other special events and milestones are featured in the Web-Journal’s News from ESA Countries which covers the following countries: Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

The same news in abbreviated form but with photos is also published in the ESA Teachers' Newsletter Spring 2009, which is being sent to the national Suzuki associations on 9 March 2009.

Please note that these  articles express the opinions of the individual authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the European Suzuki Association.
All articles are author's copyright.  For permission to reproduce these, please contact the editor, who will seek permission from the author.  Copies in Word can be sent by e-mail.

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